# pamphlet

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈpæmflɪt/ · frequency rank #19,158

## Definitions
1. A small, brief printed work, consisting either of a folded sheet of paper, or several sheets bound together into a booklet with only a paper cover, formerly containing literary compositions, newsletters, and newspapers, but now chiefly informational matter.
2. Such a work containing political material or discussing matters of controversy.
3. A brief handwritten work.

## Etymology
The noun is derived from Late Middle English pamflet, pamphilet (“short written text; small book; tract”) [and other forms], from Middle French Pamphilet (compare Late Latin (Anglo-Latin) pamfletus, panfletus, paunflettus (“short written text”), Old French Panfilès), a popular shorthand for the 12th-century Latin love poem Pamphilus, seu de amore (Pamphilus, or On Love): the widely circulated pamphlets then gave this name to the whole phenomenon. Pamphilet is derived from Latin Pamphilus, the name of a protagonist of the poem + Middle French -et (suffix forming diminutive masculine nouns); while Pamphilus is from Ancient Greek Πάμφιλος (Pámphilos, literally “beloved by all”), from παν- (pan-, prefix meaning ‘all; every’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to protect; to shepherd”)) + φῐ́λος (phĭ́los, “beloved, dear”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰil- (“decent; friendly; good; harmonious”)).
For the Middle French and Old French use of the suffix -et to form shorthands for the titles of works, compare Middle French Avionet (“the fables of Avianus”) from Avianus; Middle French Catonet, Old French Chatonnet, Chatonez (“the Distichs of Cato”) from Caton (they were formerly believed to be by Cato); and Old French Esopet, Isopet (“Aesop’s Fables”) from Ésope (Aesop).
The verb is derived from the noun.

## Common misspellings (13)
`apmphlet`, `pamhplet`, `pammphlet`, `pamphelt`, `pamphhlet`, `pamphlett`, `pamphllet`, `pamphlte`, `pamplhet`, `pampphlet`, `papmhlet`, `pmaphlet`, `ppamphlet`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/pamphlet